A Study Of Middle School English Teachers’collective Agency Under The Current English Curriculum Standard

Since the booming development of English education in China,the reform of the English curriculum for compulsory education is in a steady course of progress.The next step of the reform is not only the adjustment and optimization of the curriculum content and English teaching materials,but also the reconstruction of the nature,objectives,and structure of the curriculum.Such a profound change will certainly put higher demands on English teachers’ abilities.However,it is easy to ignore the complexity of policy implementation in the real classroom environment when the state administration is in charge.In fact,as the ultimate implementers of curriculum reform policies,the decisions and actions of teachers largely determine the extent to which the policies are implemented and the effectiveness of the reforms.Therefore,it is increasingly important for teachers to play an active role in the context of the new policy.Taking two English institutional showcases and two English teaching research activities in a middle school in Shanghai as examples,this study poses the following research questions:(1)How do English teachers develop collective agency in interpreting,designing,and implementing the Unit Integrative Teaching policy?(2)What factors influence the emergence and maintenance of teachers’ collective agency?Based on the ecological perspective and the multi-level model of collective agency,this study indicates that: 1)Both collective agency and subgroup-level agency begin with individual agency,and the dynamic interactions among individuals contribute to the formation and maintenance of collective agency;2)The objective factors include the work environment(online and offline teaching environment)and resource sharing.The subjective factors include personal experience(teaching experience and learning experience)and emotional support.Each influencing factor works within and across different levels to either inhibit or promote motivation,and in such a dynamic process of constructs,the structure of collective teacher motivation is formed.